Philly jazz singer Melody Gardot emotionally told the crowd “I missed you, Philly” in her headlining show at the Merriam Theater last night. Gardot has been touring the world in support of her latest album, this year’s Currency of Man, and last night she dedicated the song “Our Love is Easy” to the audience. Throughout the night, Gardot and her band encouraged the crowd to clap along and sing along, while the horn players incorporated coordinated movements for visual effect. Continue reading →

Pop group Trails and Ways have emerged with their first full-length, Pathology, this month, and tonight they headline Kung Fu Necktie. Their music resembles Beach Fossils by way of Passion Pit — certainly the type of sound to spend your summer evening enjoying. Watch video for “Mtn Tune” below, and get tickets to their 21+ show here. Continue reading →

South Bronx hip-hop legend Lawrence “KRS-One” Krisna Parker heads to perform at the Trocadero tonight. Following the death of his DJ in the ’80’s group Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One began effectively developing his solo career and today has over 15 albums under his belt. His most recent album The BDP Revival was dedicated to Boogie Down Productions and included powerful tracks “The Solution,” and “Introducing.” For tickets and more information head over to the XPN Concert Calender. Below, check out the video for “Aztechnical.” Continue reading →

John Mellencamp | Photo by Brad BarketHeartland rocker John Mellencamp just announced a 2015 tour in support of his latest album, Plain Spoken, and it comes to Philadelphia on June 16th at the Merriam Theater. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 19th, at 10 a.m. The album – out on Tuesday, September 23rd – is the 22nd studio release for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame-r and Grammy Award winner, and each ticket comes with a download of the album. Listen to the new “Sometimes There’s God” from the album below, and get more information on the show at the XPN Concert Calendar. Continue reading →

Band of Horses’ recently announced acoustic tour will bring them to Merriam Theater on March 1st. The indie rockers are set to release a new live LP, Acoustic at the Ryman – recorded live at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium (longtime home of The Grand Ole Opry) – on February 11th. Regarding the new release, bassist Bill Reynolds told Rolling Stone: “The game plan was to keep it wild and expressive like the show while capturing it with highest resolution available”. Certainly, their fans would approve of this goal. Pre-order the live disc and get tickets for the show at Merriam Theater here. Get a taste of Band of Horses and their embellished folk-rock via “Neighbor” from Acoustic at the Ryman and “The First Song” from their debut album below.

Raw. Spare. Explosive. Transcendent. These are four words that come to mind when recalling the Fiona Apple and Blake Mills concert on Saturday night at the Merriam Theatre. Apple and her jazz-inflected vocals full of smoke and fire as paired with the guitar virtuoso Mills, who shifted from strains of classical to folk, country and blues, were a lustful symbiosis on stage. This is best exemplified in their new song “I Want You to Love Me,” with Apple tapping away at the piano while declaring her desires and Mills sitting on the other side of the stage, countering her keys with his strings. The song builds layer after layer of discord and harmony with these elements up to a frenzied crescendo. It was electrifying.

This electrical pulse flowed throughout their “Anything We Want” show, which is what they nicknamed the tour in honor of a song they do together and their attitude overall. If anyone hoped to get Apple’s bona fide hits like “Criminal,” they would have been disappointed. At this show, the new was on display — not just in content, but also in sound as the reliance on another voice for duets like the show’s opener, “Tipple.” The very simple staging with Apple and Mills bathed in white light while their accompanying percussionist (Barbara Gruska) and bass player (Sebastian Steinberg) were in the shadows of reds and blues also added a sense of intimacy that was given even more gravitas with the surroundings of a glorious 95-year-old theater in the Merriam.

After 2012’s masterful The Idler Wheel, Apple shows that her emotive palate is blossoming into a voice that is both ageless and inventive. And for a critic like myself, it is awesome to see how she has kept the magic evident on her debut Tidal woven into her recorded and live work. This critic first saw her promoting that album in 1997 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., in a theater steeped in history with herself and her piano at the forefront. Now she has opened up to even greater possibilities, as evidenced with her duets on songs with even a country heart — “Seven.”

The 90-minute show flew by with an audience rapt and full of love, showering her with flowers and reverent claps that echoed throughout the hallowed hall. It began with her unexpectedly writing on a chalkboard “Teach me how to be free, teach me how.” And despite her lack of direct interactions with the audience, beyond asking which of the three merch shirts they had she should don, picking up a bouquet of flowers left for her that she then cradled, and a few words before their finale of “Waltz (Better Than Fine),” she spoke with her music — a voice unlike any other not afraid to use her neck as percussion or her piano as a channel for the emotions that drive humans — love, lust, hate, regret and beyond.

Elvis Costello‘s first U.S. solo tour in a decade will bring him through Philly for a show at the Merriam Theater on November 11th. The bandleader and current Roots collaborator will release Wise Up Ghost with the legendary Philadelphia hip-hop group on September 17th but hasn’t released a solo record since 2010’s National Ransom. Tickets for the all-ages show go on sale August 9th and will be available here. Stream Wise Up Ghost‘s first single “Walk Us UPTOWN” below and then check out some classic Elvis Costello tracks.

Clarence Greenwood, more commonly known by his stage name Citizen Cope, has just announced that he’ll be playing a solo acoustic show at the Merriam Theater on October 18th. The singer/songwriter has been songwriting and touring for over a decade now. His latest full length, One Lovely Day, came out in July of 2012, and is available now. Tickets for this intimate, acoustic performance go on sale this Friday, August 2nd at noon. Get more info here, and revisit the title track of One Lovely Day below.

Fiona Apple and Blake Mills are changing things up a bit with a collaborative fall tour that stops in Philly at the Merriam Theater on October 19th. Details are few and far between as the exact nature of the show is still in the planning stages, but they were asked to share a few hints:

1) We were sent an assignment to write three or four sentences.

2) These sentences should communicate that we, Fiona Apple & Blake Mills (that’s us), are doing a little tour as a duo.

3) We know it’ll be something special, and we aren’t being coy here — it’s just that we have about 26% of an idea of what the fuck we will be playing for you.

4) It was our understanding that the 4th sentence was optional, but here is something that is true: the uncertainty excites us.

While Fiona Apple continues to tour behind last year’s Idler Wheel…, former Simon Dawes (now Dawes) member and highly-sought-after collaborator Blake Mills will release his as-yet untitled sophomore solo record next year. Together in concert, Apple and Mills will perform material from their respective catalogs as well as new songs written together. Tickets for “Anything We Want: An Evening with Fiona Apple & Blake Mills” at the Merriam Theater on October 19th go on sale August 2nd; more information will be available here. Below, watch Fiona Apple’s video for “Hot Knife” and Blake Mills’ video for “Don’t Tell Your Friends About Me.”

XPN Welcomes electro-pop/rock band Yeasayer to Union Transfer tonight. The group is currently touring in support of their third album, Fragrant World, which was released in August. The band’s psychedelic sound draws a mix of influences from electronic music, folk, and world rhythms, heard best on the 2010 release of Odd Blood, which skyrocketed their reputation, even earning the title of 2010’s most-blogged artist on The Hype Machine. Go here for more information about tonight’s all-ages performance; doors open at 8. Below, watch Yeasayer’s new video for “Longevity” from Fragrant World.

About The Key

Philadelphia: Home to a rich musical history, a unique musical identity, and one of the nation's most thriving musical communities. In a scene filled with so many local bands worth listening to, there will always be new music to discover—and The Key is your source for finding it. Brought to you by WXPN—the non-commercial public radio station that World Cafe, XPN2, and XPoNential Music Festival call home—The Key covers all local music in Greater Philly and beyond.GET IN TOUCH

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About The Key

Philadelphia: Home to a rich musical history, a unique musical identity, and one of the nation's most thriving musical communities. In a scene filled with so many local bands worth listening to, there will always be new music to discover—and The Key is your source for finding it. Brought to you by WXPN—the non-commercial public radio station that World Cafe, XPN2, and XPoNential Music Festival call home—The Key covers all local music in Greater Philly and beyond.GET IN TOUCH